Mowers (Farming Simulator 15)
A Mower is a device designed to cut ripe Grass. When dragged across a patch of grass, it will destroy that grass and create a trail of Mowed Grass behind it. That Grass can then be directly picked up by a Loading Wagon, or processed by other machinery into Hay. The base game offers 3 different Mowers. They all operate the same way, but the configuration of the mowing heads on each device makes an important functional difference between them. List of Mowers Notes for Table * Power Requirements are suggestions only. * All Mowers have a Three-point hitch, and enforce a speed limit of 22 km/h while working. * The Kuhn FC 10030 actually has two separate working areas of 3.5m each, with a 2.9m gap between them. Overview A Mower is a tool designed to cut ripe Grass. Although not the only tool that can work with Grass, it is the only one that leaves the Grass as it is, to be collected or turned into Hay. Unlike Harvesters, a Mower does not collect the Grass itself. It only performs the cutting. The Grass is left on the ground, in clearly-visible patches. All Mowers in the game attach directly to Tractors, by way of a Three-point hitch. All Tractors have such a hitch at the back, and many have another at the front. In general, it does not matter which way you attach the Mower, as it will work in either direction. However, there are certain combinations of tools that can be mounted on the front and back, in which case there are preferable placements for each tool. Mowers differ from one another primarily by the configuration of the cutting heads. The smallest Mower in the game, the Pottinger Novacat 302 ED, is offset to one side, cutting grass alongside the tractor. The medium Mower is the Kuhn FC 3525 F, which cuts directly in front of (or behind) the tractor. The largest Mower is the Kuhn FC 10030, which has two cutting heads, each offset to a different side of the tractor, and thus cutting along both sides simultaneously. Mowers are best used in combination, either with two different Mower models operating together on the same tractor, or with a Mower at the front and a different Grass-related tool at the back. Some of these combinations are discussed below. After the Grass has been mowed, you must decide what you need it for. Different uses for Grass require different tools to collect it from the ground. Loading Wagons will collect the Grass as-is from the ground, and can then either sell it or feed it to animals. Alternatively, a Tedder can be used to dry the mower Grass, followed by a Baler to turn it into bales of Hay - a different kind of animal feed. Even if you don't need Grass for any purpose, getting a tractor with a Mower allows you to complete Mowing Missions, to earn extra money. These cannot be completed without a Mower. Ripe Grass Mowers can only cut Grass when it is at least in its first stage of ripeness. They will not cut Grass that is in the process of growing. Grass ripens rather quickly after the last time it was cut, requiring only two growth periods (roughly 10 hours) compared to the four growth periods required by most crops. Distinguishing between growing and ripe grass can be difficult, as the two appear near identical at a distance. You can always check the growth map in your Info Screen to see the exact stage of growth the grass is in. Ripe grass is either dark-green or light-green on this map. Grass can be cut at its first ripeness stage without any loss. If allowed to grow further, it will reach the second ripeness stage, whereupon it will grow yellow flowers that can easily be seen from a distance. Note however that there is no benefit to waiting until grass reaches this second stage - you will get the same yield as long as the Grass is ripe. Grass only begins to grow again after it has been cut. If grass is left uncut, it will remain ripe forever. It will never wither. Tool Combinations Any of the three Mower tools can be used on its own. However, to increase the effectiveness of your Mowing operations, it is often best to use either two Mowers on the same tractor (increasing your working area), or mount the Mower together with another Grass-related tool (performing two operations simultaneously). Some of the possible combinations are explained below. Note that in all cases, you may need a more powerful tractor (at least 150 hp, or even more) to operate both tools at the same time comfortably. Two Novacats The cheapest and smallest Mower is the Pottinger Novacat 302 ED. This tool's cutting head is offset a few meters to the side of your tractor - either left or right depending on whether the Novacat is installed on the front or rear of the tractor. The working width of a single Novacat is only 3.0 meters, which means that it will cut only a narrow band of Grass. You may install two Novacats on the same tractor - one at the front and one at the rear. Because of the offset on this Mower, one head (at the front) will cut grass on the left side of the tractor, while the other (at the rear) will cut grass on the right side of the tractor. This makes your effective working width 6.0 meters. However, note that this configuration will leave the grass directly in front of the tractor uncut. Since you've already got two tools on the tractor, you cannot add a third head to cut that grass. You'll need to make multiple passes to "clean up" the uncut lanes left by your tractor. Novacat and FC 3525 F The Pottinger Novacat 302 ED is offset to one side of the tractor. The Kuhn FC 3525 F, however, will cut whatever is directly in front of the tractor as it passes. When mounted together, these two tools will cut two trails of grass - one to the side of the tractor, and the other underneath the tractor. The two paths would be adjacent to each other, making a roughly 6.0m-wide lane through the grass that is perfectly cut. This combination is both cheap and simple to work with. It is recommended that you put the FC 3525 F at the front, and the Novacat at the rear, to make it easier to figure out where your cutting lanes will end up. FC 3525 F and FC 10030 These two tools are actually designed to be used together. The FC 3525 F cuts whatever is in front of the tractor, while the two heads of the FC 10030 will cut whatever is on the left and on the right. This leaves a 10.0m lane of cut grass, with no uncut gaps between the lanes. This combination works fine regardless of which tool is mounted at the front and which is mounted at the back. For better maneuverability, however, it is recommended to mount the FC 3525 F at the front. FC 3525 F and Loading Wagon The FC 3525 F's cutting head will cut grass passing underneath the tractor, leaving a trail of cut grass directly behind the tractor. A Loading Wagon attached behind the tractor would therefore be able to pick up all of this grass. This combination requires the FC 3525 F to be mounted at the front, because the Loading Wagon can only be towed at the rear. The result is that most or all of the grass you cut will immediately be collected into the Loading Wagon. When the wagon is full, you can stop mowing and go unload it somewhere, or continue cutting so that you can come back and collect it later. In either case, you will end up with grass in your Loading Wagon without having to make a separate pass - saving some time and effort. FC 10030 and Windrower When mounted alone, the FC 10030's two cutting heads will leave two separate trails of cut Grass behind them. After you're done cutting, each trail will need to be collected separately. To speed things up, you can attach a 10.0 meter Windrower behind your tractor, while the FC 10030 is mounted on the front. Such a Windrower will grab both trails right after they are created, and combine them into a single trail. If you make your passes correctly, the Windrower will collect the trail it had just created on the next pass, combining more and more Grass into one trail. At the end of the work, a single short pass with a Loading Wagon will collect all of the Grass you had mowed.* Category:Farming Simulator 15 Shop